


The Journey

by Random_DATA



Series: -Unnamed Series- [2]
Category: Strange Magic (2015), Strange Magic - Fandom
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Noir, Attempt at Humor, Detective Noir, F/M, Gang AU, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-05-26 16:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6246649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_DATA/pseuds/Random_DATA
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Longest arc in the story.</p><p>Also, I don't see anyone using chipper the squirrel in Strange Magic fics. even though Lizze is sometimes used. Is there a thing? Are we all just purposely avoiding chipper?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sometime in the Past

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tell Me Where It Hurts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5747932) by [Madness_Style](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madness_Style/pseuds/Madness_Style). 
  * Inspired by [Come Down To Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7417117) by [EndoratheWitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndoratheWitch/pseuds/EndoratheWitch). 
  * Inspired by [House of the Dark Forest](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8148281) by [jupiter23](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jupiter23/pseuds/jupiter23). 
  * Inspired by [AvP AU: The Enemy of my Enemies is my Friend](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7815277) by [Pikuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pikuna/pseuds/Pikuna). 
  * Inspired by [Seeing Red: A Zombie Au](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7854151) by [Donotquestionme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donotquestionme/pseuds/Donotquestionme). 



> This list will grow as I type more chapters.
> 
> Reading some of the awesome fanfics out there is good inspiration!
> 
> I love how everyone has their own AUs and twists to the story!
> 
>  
> 
> PS. The first chapter is retelling the past, it's before the events of that fateful night.
> 
> PPS. Any pet owners who find offense in a some things that were typed, please don't. It's not supposed to be offensive. I like cats and dogs. So don't dislike me when a character doesn't share our love of animals.

_It's raining outside... I hate the rain, it's just too sad and depressing, nothing interesting ever happens when it's raining._

 

In the city, sometime in the past, there's a fancy business building. It has a separate floor (the very top floor) for where the CEO stays, a fancy home, professional and elegant furnishings. A rather youthful looking man leans on the walls, looking out into the dark streets below. In the entire floor, the walls are all one way windows.

The building isn't tall, but it still has a good view of the city. The CEO is fond of his work, he earned this building. He earned his position. And he's got more wealth and power than he knows what to do with. So he broods here, looking out, planning, scheming. All his money was earned in unfair deals, he takes almost all profit, and others simply suffer under his terms and conditions. He's proud of the way he can so easily twist the realities of others. His words are powerful, and he knows it, and so does everyone in the gang.

A smile grows wider as he remembers how feared he is. He may as well be running the city. A chuckle escapes as he thinks about his condition, people being scared of him just because he's stolen millions legally with a twist of his tongue.

His life was grand. His life was good.

 

But...

 

He's getting bored fast. His day is too predictable. He gets up, does work, then gloats to himself while looking at the city. Then sleeps and the cycle continues. He needs an unpredictable factor. Like a girlfriend. Or a pet even. Will he fall in love? Will the day come where he worships a damn cat? Or baby talks with a mutt?

 

_Hmm. Maybe not a pet. It's too much work and little to no rewards._

_But a girlfriend. Or wife. That's something that could be amusing..._

 

His eyes lazily drift to his wrist.

 

_Ah. It's time._

 

...

 

...

_That's odd. Nothing is happening._

Did some omnipotent being hear him? Is some huge plot to get him his girlfriend already happening?

_I'll deal with this later, it's past my bedtime._

 

* * *

 

 


	2. Unexpected twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The CEO gets what he asked for. A squirrel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man... I have sooooo many plans!!!
> 
> Thanks Madness Style! 

It's dark, midnight, the appointed time when shit starts hitting the fan.

 

The CEO was sound asleep for hours, dreaming of canon, when his wish finally came true.

 

Out from the elevator came a few suspicious looking goons, armed with duck tape and a rather large garbage bag. Approaching him quietly, at first, but when they were close enough to the king sized bed, hands reached out to restrain him.

The thugs grabbed the man's arms as he squirmed in alarm, legs kicking wildly, the CEO raised his face to scream, but it was quickly covered with a foul smelling sweaty hand.

 

They duct taped the mouth and hands, binding the feet as well, before rudely shoving him in the bag...

 

_Be Careful of what you wished for._

 

By the time the kidnappers got in the car, the CEO relaxed completely.

 

No one's hit him. He is still alive. And apart from the whole struggle, he wasn't being unnecessarily manhandled...

He thought this might be a "delivery" job.

 

"Junkyard. Alleyway. And we've been instructed to let the hood down when the fuzz arrive."

 

A nervous driver responded with a weak "okay" and began to drive.

 

"What are you doing?"

 

"Hey man, common, I'm driving alright?"

 

"The roads are completely empty."

 

"So?" Under his breath he murmured, "it's not like we cared anyways"

 

"We've kidnapped the CEO of the Fairfield Corp. Why are you driving slower than my grandma?"

 

"Yeah man!" A raspy voice edged, "we need to high tail!"

 

After a few seconds (in which the CEO thought was the right amount of time for the goons to scare the good driver) the pedal was to the metal.

And not a moment too soon, the fuzz had arrived.

 

Sirens blazing, the cop car pulled out of a hidden road, and gave chase.

 

"Hood Down! Hood Down!"

"Okay, okay, okay, what do you think I've been trying to do!?"

 

The roof of the car was nothing but a thick black cloth, so the driver yelled at someone to help him remove the hood. After a few scrambled moments of him yelling at a thug on how to unlatch the roof, he messed with the dashboard until the windows rolled down and the roof finally folded. Without wasting a moment, one thug pulled out a small machine gun, firing at random places in the general direction of the police car.

 

The sirens muted and a tall man in a coat leaned out the window, radio in hand, his voice being projected through the speakers of the car. "Hey! This is commissioner King speaking! You better stop firing and pull over now!"

 

"Heheh, the big fish actually came."

The other two thugs laughed loud enough to be heard from the cop's car.

Offended by their loud guffawing, he warned them that things were about to get much worse for them if they don't pull over now. With more threat in his voice as he spoke, his accent got worse and worse.

When he took a breath to continue, a loud yell finally reached him, "HEY Mr. King! Why don't you try to catch us first!"

The laughter continued as their car accelerated. 

 

The police officer diving was already stepping on the gas as much as possible, yet it only seemed that they were getting farther and farther away!

Bog knew that catching them was impossible, still he let his frustration slip out, "common! We're so close!"

"Sir! I'm- I'm really trying but this car can't go any faster!"

 

"...very well." Taking out his hand gun, Bog aimed for the car, but before he could pull the trigger, the kidnapped CEO was revealed. "What?" His face wrinkled, an attempt to hide his shock and instead made him look only more upset.

 

"Ha. Ha. Ha! Hey chief! You know who this is!?" The thug shook the victim around for a bit. "It's the CEO of Fairfield Corp." 

 

Swearing under his breath, Bog signaled the driver to stop. But before the speeding car was out of earshot, he yelled into the speaker, "You're not going to get away with this!" Then as he sat back in the car he slammed his hands on the dash, " **ARGH!** I missed a date for this!?"

Then, as if to add salt to injury, a news crew chopper shone it's light down on the police car.

 

"Great. Just. Fucking great."

* * *

 

The thugs were congratulating themselves, laughing till their faces turned red. 

 

"HAHAHAHAHHAHA Did you see the look on his face!?"

One knelt over himself. "Classic!"

"Oh God, guys you know what this means!?"

The third thug paused to let his meaning sink in. "We've actually bested officer King. I mean. Like. THE King."

"Well, of course we did!"

"yeah!" Added the second goon. "It was the Viscount's plan after all!"

 

A silence descended upon the group. Then suddenly there was a rustling sound.

"OH SHIT! MR.JOAN!" 

 

The three goons comically rushed to their victim, trying their best to untie the man as fast as they could. 

"We're so very sorry sir, we were already late, so we didn't have time to explain and..."

"STOP." A powerful voice escaped from the young CEO. As he stood and stretched, he turned to look at each thug. Somehow, in his white silk pajamas he was able to maintain a regal sort of atmosphere. "So you were supposed to arrive at the appointed time, and somehow you were three hours late?"

"Er. Yes sir."

"Again we're really sorry."

"Yep. Sorry."

 

"Hmm, well at least it still worked. Somehow your mistake hasn't cost us this entire operation." Then suddenly his voice was low, dripping with so much sweetness that it was actually scary. "I reallllyy should report this though, shouldn't I? After all, you only had one job. Pick up the car, brief me with whatever the Viscount wants me to do and then distract the Chief. Really it was  **so** simple~"

"Er.."

"NO! Sir please! It. was. it."

"it was a girl."

The thugs turned suddenly, facing the speaker, their driver.

"Ah! Finally, someone reliable!" Joan spread out his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Someone I can count on!"

 

He moved to the side of the driver, "what's your name son?"

"It's Sunny sir."

"Ah! Sunny! Please, enlighten me! What girl are you talking about?"

"Well, sir, you see, it started when...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is basically Sunny's story, but from Chipper's point of view.


	3. Chipper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note here: Sunny didn't know that Chipper is a male.

All his life, all Chipper had ever known was cars. He didn't care too much about the money he got from his work, he simply enjoyed the time he spent with his mother as they worked on the cars together.

 

She was a lone mother who had problems with her drinking occasionally, but Chipper was understanding. She would always insult his father, but the drinking was done because she missed him so much. When he was younger, he remembered how he hid from her as she drank and bawled. He could hear her talk to someone named Harold, later on he found out that this was the name of his father. And his father was murdered.

His mother never took it up with the police, and Chipper never had the heart to do anything. So instead, he always tried to cheer her up with his work. Tinkering with small metal pieces until it was shaped into flawless sculptures. Then, as he got older, Chipper began to work in the garage. By the time he had reached the age of 8, he was allowed to operate the shop by himself.

 

Over the years, he's never once looked after himself. Always concerned about his mother or his work. Working with stubborn engines and solid gears, Chipper gained just enough muscle. But his clothes were constantly strained with oil and grease and other unidentifiable chemicals. He neglected his hair and his eating habits and lifestyle left him with a rather slender physique. More often then not, Chipper was always mistaken as a girl...

 

Three more happy years passed. Their garage, 'The Junkyard', wasn't a very popular spot, and as the happy years passed, reality began hitting the mother and child in the form of a letter. An overdue bill. All these years Chipper was always under the impression that they had money and everything was fine. But in truth, when his father passed, his mother had made a deal with the Dark Forest. They provided her with a few thousands, but his mother never kept track of the money, too busy in drowning in her sorrows and trying to show Chipper that she didn't need help. Seeing the bill felt like he'd been betrayed by his own mother. After all he was her son, how could she have not trusted him with such important issues!?! 

Into the night he stormed, which was a bad idea since back then Bog King was nothing but a detective. Which meant that the streets were still filled with gang activity. And as fate would have it, Chipper had passed his future boss on the street. Roland was out that night with a few of his 'wares', when his car broke down suddenly. He was playing it cool, trying to fix his car when Chipper had entered his field of vision.

 

He had called Chipper over, told him to be a good lad and help him with his car. After the job was done, Roland invited Chipper to help kill the time with him, and Chipper agreed (Roland had a very expensive car, the likes of which Chipper would never find in his shop. He agreed and the two spent the night driving and talking about Chipper's problems. Somehow Roland liked the kid, and before the sun could rise, he drove Chipper home.

 

...

But when they made the last turn, there was nothing there.

 

The spot where 'The Junkyard' once stood was reduced to rubble... And his mother was nowhere to be found...

 

...

She never got a funeral... No one could even find her body...

 

The Dark Forest reached out for him. Roland presented a deal, told Chipper that all he had to do was his job, and if he did, he'd get paid handsomely. He would never have to lose anything ever again... "Do it for your parents"

 

 

Years later Chipper found himself drowning under work. His garage was upgraded, it looked good and it had all the tools that Chipper would ever need. His clients varied from the aristocrats to common everyday people. Roland always visited once in a while. Life was good.

 

 

Until **that fateful afternoon** happened...

Chipper was excited, the Dark Forest had given him an assignment, and despite his hate towards the gang, he couldn't turn down the job. They offered a variety of cars, all missing a few parts, and he was to craft a car that was as fast as a race car. 

On the day of completion, he decided to finally take an overdue shower. He'd spent half the year just focused on the car, he didn't feel right in his own skin. However he had taken too much time and by the time the thugs were sent to pick up the car, he still had wet hair and minimal clothing. 

Sadly he was mistaken for a girl and as Chipper spoke about the car he made, the goons kept getting the wrong message. They attacked him, trying to restrain him and rip his clothing off, but Chipper was strong. After escaping he had called Roland, leaving a scrambled message. 

 

By the time Roland arrived, it was too late. Chipper was on the floor, naked, shivering, scared, ashamed, his dignity reduced to nothing... Roland couldn't stand for it. Chipper was the only friend he had, Chipper was the only person who didn't care for Roland's money or Roland's work. He was a loyal sidekick! And he wasn't going to let his sidekick shiver on the ground in disgrace!

 

Roland had won Chipper's absolute loyalty then...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> R.I.P. Harold and his wife. 
> 
> They were the only characters who weren't based of off characters in Strange Magic... 
> 
> Also for anyone who was wondering Sunny was outside the garage, so when the thugs came back outside, they called Chipper a girl out of spite.


	4. Background

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh geez, the forces are mobilizing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm re-reading my work and I realized that Chipper chapter might've been confusing (a lil' bit), chipper's mom died when he was just a little boy, and at the time, Bog was but a noob at the force (who was actually making some breakthroughs and was also struggling with something [we'll find out more in future chapters!]). 
> 
> Right now however (and we are technically still in the past, before Marianne and Bog met, before the fire and the whole fiasco) chipper is a 20-ish year old (dude trust me the story is soo complicated that I couldn't calculate exact times, and passage of years) and Bog has almost destroyed all of the gang's operations.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm really sorry. This is a confusing story. It's like taking a huge burger and shoving it in a tiny shrew's mouth...

"..."   
  
For a while only the whipping wind could be heard as the car speed down the lane.  
  
The CEO was exasperated by their actions and was still trying to figure out why it would take three hours just to hit on a woman, realize it was actually a guy, and then pick-up a top notch custom built race car.

 

Sensing this, Sunny rushed to explain, "well, by the time I got inside, it felt like thirty minutes had passed, and they insisted I see what they 'found'"

 

"God, please don't tell me..."

 

"Oh, no, sir, Roland found us when we tried to run. He would've put a bullet in our heads had the Viscount not intervened..."

 

"She's at the garage?"

 

"Yeah, I believe there was a slight change in plans. She wants a new mole."

 

"Tonight?!"

 

"Tonight."

 

* * *

 

The car headed back inside the Junkyard.

Inside was was a sleek black car, Roland, his team, Chipper, and a mysterious tall women.

 

Joan was the first to greet her, "ah! Viscount! It's so nice to finally meet you!" 

 

"I'd rather skip the pleasantries Mr. Joan."

 

"Heh, heh, yes. Of course." Meekly he stood before her, the thugs choosing to stay in the car, cowering as much as possible to avoid Roland's gaze. Sunny, scared out of his wits, stayed in his driver's seat, guessing (and hoping) he would have to drive away soon.  
The Viscount was a women to be feared, she worked very close to the leader, was as smart as she was deadly, and similarly ruthless as well. Stories of her deeds were told many times by the other members, she was the highest authority figure that came into contact with other hoodlums like himself.

She sported short brown hair and usually wore black.

 

"I thought you had gotten my message."

 

"I'm sorry, I was in the middle of my supposed kidnapping."

 

" **Do not even dare** to continue this line of speech."

 

"O-of course. Apologies. But I do wish to propose something better?" After receiving a nod of approval, he continued, "for the past few years, I've been working on a little project. She's completely loyal to me, served me well, and will do anything, from stealing, to infiltrating, down to assassinations. I've only to simply present her to you, she was instructed to always be within my reach."

 

"Hmmm. You're smart. Good. This girl sounds promising. Where is she and when will I have her?"

 

"She's outside no doubt, waiting."

 

"Your personal bodyguard?"

 

"Oh no, more of a... highly skilled loyal professional." He punctuated his statement with a smile, "but when she's relieved of her duties, she does tend to... hang around."

 

"Call her here, Roland's girls will give you a makeover. You know the rest."

 

At her dismissal, the room was alive with movement. Roland watched as the bridesmaids worked to set up a chair and small table, Joan sent a text summoning his assassin bodyguard, and Sunny was beginning to shiver, uncertain as to whether of not the Viscount had lid eyes on him yet. He felt like a hawk's next meal.

By the time Joan sat in the make-up chair, the door to the garage slammed open.

 

There was a brief pause in everyone's actions, and all eyes were focused on another woman. She was wearing dark but rather casual clothing, anyone would've mistaken her for just another civilian had she not entered the shop so dramatically. As she moved to stand before the Viscount, she spoke.

"Mr.Joan said I would be under new management. I assume you are the Viscount?"

 

"You would be assuming correctly.  **I** , on the other hand, am correct in assuming that you are skilled in infiltration?"

 

"If you wish for me to watch the detective, I can assure you I already have tabs on him."

 

"Hm. You've managed to pique my curiosity. Tell me, what is he doing right now?"

 

"As we speak, he's dealing with all the security footage in Mr. Joan's main resident building. The press has already swarmed and pestered him like you'd hoped and he's losing much time trying to make sense of the glitches in the locking systems of the doors in the building as well as many other things."

 

"...How do you know all this?"

 

"I've been instructed to watch the gang as well, Mr. Joan specifically asked to have you monitored as well."

 

For the first time in the garage, the Viscount smiled, and sounded pleased for once, "ah, now that. Is impressive. I wasn't aware of being spied upon."

She turned, along with her tone of voice, "Mr. Joan, I'll let your actions slip because you've given me a very good pawn. However understand this: I  **do not like being spied upon, nor do I like your cretin's actions.** Should you obtain another persons similar to this fine young lady here, I would  **strongly** advise you to use them as a personal bodyguard.  **Trust me. You'll need one sooner or later.** "

 

"Apologies. I simply thought you'd accept her if you knew the extent of her skill set. Would you wish to see her kill one of those hoodlums in the car?"

 

"I would refrain from speaking further. I just might 'test her' on you." With that final threat hanging in the air, everyone in the room was silent except for the Viscount and her new pawn. "Now tell me, what name do you go by?"

 

"I am simply known as Liz."

 

"Hm. You are to continue watching the officer until I have further need of you."

 

As Liz moved to exit the building, the Viscount made to sit in the car, Roland opening the door to the shotgun seat. Before he could close the door the Viscount told Joan to take another car to the Alley where he'd acquire his second identity. The girl's were working to turn him into an albino, the hair needing more time to turn permanently white, so he was given a temporary wig. Roland still had three men to spare, so assigning one of them to look after Chipper, he gave his friend a hearty back slap and told him that he would be at his beck and call. Soon the group left, leaving Chipper, his temporary security guard, the thugs, the girls and Mr. Joan, and Sunny behind.

 

* * *

 

"Ahh, Olive!"

 

"Mm, my love! We are reunited at last!"

 

"Please, tell these rude men to unhand me! I've done as you have asked, and I know he will do whatever you ask of him!"

 

"Quiet Girl. I'm tired of this charade. Take her away from my sight... Maybe you can join Roland's club."

 

"Olive? No. Wait. What... Please Olive! OLIVE! DON'T DO THIS, PLEASE!"

 

"My name is not Olive. From now on, you **will** address me as The Viscount."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I re-watched the movie to try and I.D. the lady Roland was dating while being with Marianne, and I realized that the animators might've used Marianne's model but put different clothes and wings on her. I'm not sure the movie actually shows her face. And her hair is brown and short... Either Roland had a thing for that, or the animators actually did use a Marianne model...
> 
>  
> 
> Either way, she's still the Viscount.
> 
> In the next chapter (should someone choose to comment again, we'll be going back to the present! So we can have more Marianne and Bog! Yay?)


	5. The Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is good (hopefully).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been re-reading my entire work from beginning to end and I realized that I put a LOT of emotions in my previous chapters... But so far 'The Journey' has paled in comparison, even if it does have lots of plot and reveals background information. The reason for this is that I wanted to really focus on what our main characters were going through, everyone else is a side or background character. But I still wanted to at least introduce them and show you their past and how they're connected to the main story line!  
> In honor of HumanR, they made me re-look at everything I've done so far :D  
>  
> 
> Now when we last left off, Marianne was on the floor, ripping up her wedding dress and screaming like a banshee.

Like lightening Bog moved to restrain her wrists, holding them away from her dress and close to Marianne's head. "Hae ye lost yer mind quine!?!"

Of course the reply was a raw short 'rahhh' accompanied by more struggling, "let. Me. Go!" One of her fists were freed are accidentally hit the side of Bog's head.

However instead of being in shock, the man moved fast to restrain her, bringing both arms behind her back and forcing Marianne to stand up. A strong angry voice ringed through out the room, "enough!"

Marianne stopped struggling.

"Please, stop. Ah need ye tae clam doon, an' take a seat."

Huffing in indignation, Marianne pulled herself free from his grasp and landed heavily on the couch, "at least bring me some food. I'm hungry."

"Aye, Princess."

Bog moved to the sink, dropping his coat on the kitchen table, rolling up his sleeves and preceded to wash his wounds. After doing so he washed two plates (since everything had just been collecting dust), and cleaned out his fridge. He was disappointed to realize everything in there was spoiled. Then he realized that had Marianne eaten anything from here he'd have to admit her to a hospital (or at least visit a pharmacy). Glad that didn't happen, he tossed everything in the trash and settled for mac and cheese. It was a hassle to make, but he had enough time to grab a first aid kit and patch himself up. 

"Oh... You're hurt. What happened?"

"I jumped out a building" his accent receded along with his alarm and anger. He was clam once again. Something which Marianne found quite admirable. She herself still felt like she could explode, unbridled frustration threatening to leap out and burn everything, damn the consequences.

"...how do you do that?"

As he spoke Bog packed up the kit, his bleeding has stopped, antiseptic rubbed on each wound and bandaged. "Oh it's actually more luck than skill, I'd recommend wearing something c-"

"no, no, I meant your... um, it's just. You sound so... in control?"

He paused in his actions, "heh. Trust me, I'm far from it."

"What?"

"Hey, I've just got more experience in this world than you do. How old are ye? 20? 21?" His attention was on the small pot of noodles.

"Tha-"

"It doesn't matter, thing is I've just got more experience in the real world than you do. And after you really get to realize what kind of person you really are, everything else just seems to... fall into place."

 

Marianne would've said something, anything, but the man's tone was so weak and fragile that she felt that he would shatter into dust and disappear.

 

"Take a seat at the table, the food's done."

"It smells great." It was a weak attempt to lighten up the mood.

"course it does, you're hungry."

 

As the two ate in silence Marianne finally seemed to take Bog in. She studied his appearance, his sharp edges and hollow look. He seemed to her like a man haunted by hordes of ghosts, only his sheer will keeping him from kneeling over. His clothing was still ripped, a brief flash of anger passed over her, she was being selfish again, but the mac and cheese distracted her. She's had a similar dish before, although it's taste was much too...different? No doubt it was very appealing in terms of appearance but the taste was a million degrees different. Her wealth meant that she would eat food that looked good, but had almost no taste. Plus for some reason she found out fast that expensive cheeses didn't taste as good as whatever cheese was used in Bog's macaroni.

_heh, the taste used to be so bland and plain...almost like me. That has to change soon._

Marianne contemplated on what Bog had said. About getting to know who you were. He was the chief of police, but she wasn't the Marianne Atwood anymore. She was just Marianne, and she needed to find out what this new girl was capable of. _Lets start with dinner conversations._

"So. I'm guessing you didn't find anything in the fire?"

"aye."

"well... you didn't see anything at all!?"

"ugh, you don't need to know anything, in fact after this, you're headed straight to a cell, you're an arsonist."

"I had a good reason to start that fire!"

"Yeah, which is why you belong in a cell."

"No, I mean it was self defense!"

Bog dropped his spoon, his attention finally tuned to her. "Oh really? Who was attacking you?"

"The members of that Dark Forest gang! I was about to be caught so I thought that pushing some stuff behind me would slow him down. I didn't think the building would catch fire!"

"Him?"

"Yeah, the man who tried to get the Atwood family's name and money?"

"So, what, he chased you because you had his package?"

"yes."

"..."

A moment of silence passed, Bog looked very very hard at his almost empty plate, frowning deeper than Marianne had ever seen a person frown.

"How do you know it was definitely you who started the fire?"

"What...?"

"Well, if I assume you're telling the truth, then there's a chance you didn't start the fire."

"ah, well I pushed a table with open flames to the ground."

"..."

Again a moment of silence. The man was contemplating what questions he could ask that could possibly reveal more than she thought she did.

"What was it?"

"What?"

"What was the open flame?"

"Does it matter? I saw it spread out like wild fire on the carpet."

"You don't find it odd that the sprinkler systems didn't turn on?"

"what?!" Marianne's anger was starting to leak in her tone. The man she thought would help her was prying too much, acting as if she were a villain, a criminal!

"Well it's just, none of the alarms were triggered until much later, and there was no sprinklers that were triggered."

"What? How? Tha..." Her frustration. Marianne wanted to break the plate, grab the man and viciously shake him till he understood. "Hah! So... What, you're saying I tampered with my own family's fire alarms and sprinkler systems!?!"

"No," but Bog silently filed it away, it was still a possibility that the girl was ridiculously good at acting. He didn't trust her, but he needed her to think that she was being treated as just another person. "But it still doesn't make sense... From what you've told me, you found out about what one man wanted to do with your family's name and money. It turns out there were several people tied to the gang already working right under your noses, The Atwood family, as far as I know, is probably the only family without ties to the gang, according to you. And you started a fire because you were being chased by a man who found out that you saw his master plan?"

_SLAM!_

her fists hit the table and Marianne rose, "what doesn't make sense!?!"

Bog slowly got to his feet and steely gazed back into her eyes, "in all your accounts you've never once mentioned a fire alarm going off or the sprinkler systems turning on, and you didn't talk about your escape," which he thought was very suspicious. "So while the fire was growing rapidly, these systems didn't turn on still. And in case you've forgotten the building had at least a few rooms well cooked when you finally surfaced from the front doors. In all my past knowledge of the gang, and from what you've told me, in seems to me that at some point in the night, a fire **_was actually planned_**."

Marianne fell back to her seat. Her voice shook and her blood felt ice cold. "...what?... a fire...planned?"

"Aye. But it doesn't make sense! That man was going to involve the Atwood family, who are the richest people in this city, **and** it was already crawling with their members so I'd say they were close to turning them, or had at least turned their building into a thriving base for maybe multiple operations..." He found it a bit hard to watch what he said, but the frustration of having soo many pieces of the puzzle and  still not **knowing** what the whole picture was, was extremely infuriating. He didn't know if the girl before him was trustworthy. He didn't know if he was supposed to die in that building. He didn't know what was happening and why.

"so...they were going to kill us? My entire family?"

"Aye," He took his plate to the sink, _no point getting angry now, the girl seemed like she was already going through a lot, she might actually do something worse than rip her dress apart_. "And that's the part that confuses me so."

 

Marianne clenched her fists... This was the last straw, fury burned through out her veins. Her fists trembled and she moved quickly, getting up, and turning the good detective around by force. "How can you be so **clam** about this!?! They attempted mass murder! They tried to kill my **entire** family!"

"But they failed! And they didn't. Everyone survived the fire!" He swatted away her vice-like grip on his shoulders.

 

Air.

 

Suddenly Marianne was breathing. The pressure of anger and fury and unfairness and guilt was lifted in just mere seconds. Blinking rapidly she allowed herself to run a hand through her hair. Under her breath grateful words escaped.

But it wasn't over yet. There was still a creeping threat hanging in her head. "But then... Won't they try to kill them all again?"

 

_Hmm... The girl has a point. Innocent or not, whoever the intended targets were, were still alive. If he knew them well, he'd know they'd try a different albeit more noticeable way to kill their targets. And they probably had many since they were willing to burn an entire building. Heck that cover-up in the building was probably rushed and improvised..._

While Bog thoughts raced in his mind, Marianne grew impatient. She knew the man was thinking hard and long about his next actions, but she wanted him to reach a decision sooner rather then later.

She glanced at her dress.

"Ugh, I don't suppose you have spare clothes?"

 

Bog froze.

 

His words were slow.

"Aye."

 

... _there should be some at the station right?,_ he desperately thought.

 

"... uh? Where are they?"

 

**. . .**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Elf Kid 2 (if they're even still reading this): The nice thing about making the story up as you go is that you're hit with sudden new ideas that just seem **so right** for the story. Sadly this means that Marianne has escaped jail time. Also, the gang won't just be taking the credit for the fire, they're going to be the cause for the fire!
> 
> Okay, it's time to admit some truth though. While I do make up the story on the fly, the general vague timeline has been created and is constantly undergoing renovations. Now I'm having a small issue because I can't seem to nail down Bog's past. Specifically his 'fateful night', so in an attempt to solve my dilemma, I would love to hear what you guys think happened to Bog's crush on that fateful night that made Bog ashamed of himself and depend on alcoholism and basically do nothing but mope in his case files.  
> (I'll write a chapter for every response [comment rules below apply] I get!)
> 
> P.S. next chapter involves Roland. Sorry not sorry?


	6. A Roland point of view

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The poor guy's overworked and beaten up from being a villain... Its a very unrewarding career choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But hey, at least in this story, he's not **the** bad guy, he's just a bad guy.

Roland left fairly early, insisting he was alright, and he truly felt much better.

 

However right now he had a specific target, a small one that went by the name of Sunny. Which Roland personally thought was the dumb, seeing as there were so many other names out there.

Sunny was left alone near a paramedics van, hunched over, worrying over something.

Roland moved fast, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him hard against the van. "What the Fuck midget."

Sunny let out a choked scream, "Roland!"

"How did she get the package!?"

He winced. Sunny didn't know why he had done it either. He was getting lost, and he remembered really wanting to see Dawn before the wedding. Marianne was trustworthy, he could have never guessed that she would open the box. "... I... I thought she was going to see you and I-"

 

Roland slammed Sunny against the truck again, " **why!?!** Did you know that because of you, I'M STUCK HERE!?!"

 

"Roland I'm really so-"

" **NO!** Sorry's NOT going to cut it! Sorry's not going to get me out! Sorry's not helpful! IT'S ALL GONE BECAUSE OF YOU! I mean you had ONE job!!!"

 

It was getting harder to reason with the man so Sunny didn't bother speaking. He was terrified of making things worse than it had already gotten. He was worried about Dawn, he saw her in the building and tried to get her to safety, but there were too many other desperate people trying to escape as well. He thought he saw her on a stretcher...

And while his thoughts were primarily focused on not aggravating Roland further, he couldn't help but worry about Dawn in the back of his mind.

 

Roland sucked in a deep breath, when he let it out his voice was as normal as it could get. "Sunny. Do you know where Joan is?"

 

That got his attention. "...Yeah, I uh. I think so?"

 

"Okay." He let Sunny down, and patted his shoulders, "you're taking me to him and...uh....ugh. **CRAP!** " He kicked the tire, slamming his fist on the van as he did so. "What am I going to do!?"

 

"What.. What _are_ you trying to do?"

 

"I'm trying to get out!"

 

"Out?"

 

"YES! OUT! Like..." He lowered himself to Sunny's height, whispering, "Sunny, have you ever thought of leaving this city? Leaving the gang and everything behind?"

 

"Yeah. But. It's not possible... Is it?"

 

"Yeah, I had a perfectly good plan... _Until you ruined everything!!_ "

 

"You wanted Marianne's hand to help you escape the city?"

 

"It was fool proof. And easy. **Fuck.** "

 

"Did you just need money?"

 

"No, I need a way to get past their spies and their prying eyes and just. God. I'm so tired of running away from that stupid bitch!"

 

Sunny froze. Talking about the Viscount wasn't an easy task for him. She somehow made his flesh crawl and her eternally damning eyes seemed to peer right into his soul. He was scared of a lot of things, but the Viscount was the height of all of it. Hearing Roland bad mouth her so casually made him whip his head around, making sure she didn't just melt out of the shadows and come for their lives. "Uhh, I don't think we should talk about her..."

 

"Ugh! You don't know how it feels to have someone constantly breathing down your neck and controlling you like a puppet!"

 

 _Yeah. Sure I don't._ "...what about the police?"

 

"What about them?"

 

"Well... nobody really knows this but ah... You know the Sugar Plum Fairy right?"

 

"Heh, God, she's real?"

 

"Yeah, and she's also been supplying information to the cops for years."

 

"So what, it's not like they're going to do something."

 

"Well... Maybe if you let them take the Viscount away..."

 

"Impossible. She has eyes everywhere."

 

"Alright... What _can_ you do?"

 

"Heh. I wish I could kill the old hag."

 

"Uhhh... What?"

 

"Oh. Wait a minute." Roland slowly rose as the gears in his head turned. "If she dies... I just might be able to take her place... **I** could be running everything. **I** could be powerful, unstoppable..."

 

"Uhhhh..... Roland?"

 

"Shh." He waved a hand over Sunny's head, "you're useless. But I do need to ask you one thing. Does your druglady or whatever actually deal?"

 

"Uh. Yeah? I guess? She still has to keep up appearances..."

 

"Good. I'll still need Joan's new address. Send it to me when you find it." He made to move away but froze in his tracks. "Wait a minute.. You work for the cops!?"

 

"Oh no, no! I just.. I just overheard some things..."

 

"Well. Sunny I happen to know quite well on how good you are with secrets so I'll let you work with a close associate of mine." And with a sinister smile, Roland grabbed a fistful of Sunny's collar and practically dragged him towards the street. He'd call a cab and leave for his apartment. He still had to figure out how the rest of his plan would work...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's always short, but if I kept going I was probably going to move into the future. Besides we might not see Roland again for quite some time while he's brewing up his witches stew of a plan. It would be a good buffer for when I leave cliff hangers in the present (you guys would get like, a sudden flashback).
> 
> Oh I can't wait till the truth comes out.

**Author's Note:**

> Reasons to comment:
> 
> -critique  
> -requests (if it's reasonable I can put it in the story)  
> -Comments = chapters (replies do not count, and comments from the same user will only be accepted if there's fuel in the fire)


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